Red-Handed

So President, I mean, Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney, the behind-the-scenes power behind the Iraq War, admits his guilt in our misbegotten torture policy:

Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he was directly involved in approving severe interrogation methods used by the CIA, and that the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should remain open indefinitely.

Cheney's remarks on Guantanamo appear to put him at odds with President Bush, who has expressed a desire to close the prison, although the decision is expected to be left to the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama.

Cheney's comments also mark the first time that he has acknowledged playing a central role in clearing the CIA's use of an array of controversial interrogation tactics, including a simulated drowning method known as waterboarding.

"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared," Cheney said in an interview with ABC News.

Watch the evil yourself:



He's got his defenders as well, including rightwing ideologue Frank Gaffney, who's delighted:

MATTHEWS: You guys sold the war as a nuclear threat to the United States. You sold every trick you cold to get us into this war. And now you're backpedaling. And I do find it astounding....four thousand people are dead because of the way you feel and, Frank Gaffney, you're wrong about this.

GAFFNEY: It is regrettable that they had to die, but I believe they did have to die. The danger was inaction could have resulted in the death of a great many more Americans than 4,000. And that's the reason I'm still delighted that we did what we did.

Tell that to the families of the dead U.S. soldiers, the possibly hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqi citizens and the millions displaced, Frank.

So is there any hope in hell that Cheney and his henchmen will be brought to justice?